Rally d'Italia Sardegna – after stage 14, Sorilis
Clear skies and bright sunshine greeted the 47 survivors from the original 57 starters as they left Olbia early this morning for the final day of this sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Nineteen drivers are competing under SupeRally rules having retired earlier in the event, and all face another 78.57km of competition in what promises to be a thrilling final day's action as BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team aims to continue chasing down overnight leader Sébastien Loeb.
Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were tied for second in their Focus RS World Rally Cars, 29.4sec behind Loeb as they headed south of Olbia for the opening two speed tests. Hirvonen, third on the road behind Loeb and Latvala, blasted to fastest time in the 19.28km Monte Olia, 5.1sec ahead of his colleague and 10.3sec clear of the Frenchman.
Loeb bounced back to win the following 18.66km Sorilis by 3.9sec from Hirvonen with Latvala a further 0.7sec behind. The drivers returned to Olbia for service with Hirvonen 23.0sec behind Loeb and Latvala 28.5sec adrift, with a repeat of the two stages and a short test near Porto Cervo remaining.
"The first stage was great but I went off the road briefly on the next about 1km after the start," said Hirvonen. "I hit a rock and didn't know what damage I had done so I knew I had to ease off slightly. I thought I had a puncture but Pirelli's tyres are strong and the rubber stayed inflated. At one point I was worried I wouldn't make the finish. I will continue to attack in the next stage and see what happens. It's a great feeling when you are pushing so hard and everything works so well."
After winning all six stages yesterday, Latvala knows today's start position is less favourable with slippery loose gravel covering the surface. "I had a good road position for two days and now I don't," he said. "The car feels great, but I don't know how Loeb was so fast on the second stage from first in the start order. I don't have the same confidence as yesterday because the roads are slippery and there's not the same flow. The podium is possible, but I've not settled for third and I'll keep the pressure on."
Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and co-driver Michael Orr climbed from 21st to 19th, although Al Qassimi was unhappy with his performance. "I didn’t drive well this morning, the stages were narrow and I wasn’t confident. Some of the turns were so tight the car barely got through – it wasn’t easy and driving in this rally for the first time with new pace notes has been a real learning curve," he said.
Leaderboard after stage 14 of 17
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 27min 33.9sec
2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 27min 56.9sec
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 28min 02.4sec
4. G Galli/G Bernacchini ITA Ford Focus RS 3hr 29min 10.8sec
5. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 3hr 29min 24.0sec
6. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 3hr 31min 38.6sec
7. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 3hr 33min 00.7sec
8. U Aava/K Sikk EST Citroen C4 3hr 33min 12.5sec
9. P-G Andersson/J Andersson SWE Suzuki SX4 3hr 34min 22.8sec
10 M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 3hr 36min 46.6sec